Opening a Takeaway: Your Waste and Oil Checklist

Every food business has to register with its local authority. You need to do it at least 28 days before you start trading, and you can do it online. If you've already started trading, register as soon as possible, because it's a legal requirement.

You'll also need food safety procedures based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). Once you're registered, a food safety officer can inspect you and give you a food hygiene rating out of 5. The Food Standards Agency says every business should be able to achieve the top rating of 5.

Waste is part of that. The Food Standards Agency says you must remove food waste and other rubbish, and have adequate facilities for storing and disposing of it. So plan your bins and your oil before you open, not after the first inspection.

If the unit wasn't a takeaway before, speak to your council's planning team early. Hot food takeaways have their own planning category, and a change of use can need planning permission.

If you'll sell hot food or hot drinks between 11pm and 5am, that counts as late night refreshment under the Licensing Act 2003, and you'll need a premises licence from your council.

Your fryers will produce used cooking oil from day one, and it can't go down the sink or in your general waste. Cooking fat poured down the sink can set hard in cold pipes and help form fatbergs. Water UK's advice to food businesses is to use a specialist company to collect and recycle fats.

Before you open, sort out:

• A registered collector, booked before your first service.
• Barrels with lids, kept somewhere dry and easy to reach. We supply free barrels from 60 to 120 litres, or collect your oil in the drums it came in.
• A routine for letting oil cool and sieving out food bits before it goes in the barrel.
• Somewhere for chicken fat and dripping too. They go in for collection, never down the drain.

Used cooking oil is worth money, because it's made into renewable fuel. We pay cash on every collection, at competitive rates that follow the market.

Water UK also advises businesses to use equipment that catches fat and food waste before it reaches the drain, such as a grease trap. We don't install or empty grease traps, so you'd need a specialist for that.

Pick your collector before you open, not when the first barrel is full. Ask every collector you speak to:

• Are you on the Environment Agency's public register?
• Will I get a waste transfer note after every collection?
• How and when will I be paid, and is the rate per litre or per kilo?
• Do you supply barrels, and do they cost anything?
• Is there a contract or notice period?

Our guide to choosing a collector goes through each of these in more detail.

Keep your oil barrels somewhere dry, with the lids on, away from drains and out of the way of customers. Outside the kitchen is best if you have a yard or back door, so the driver can collect without walking through your kitchen.

When you book, tell us where the barrels will be and the best times to collect. If you'll be closed on certain days, let us know so we can plan around it.

Since 31 March 2025, workplaces in England have had to separate their waste under the Simpler Recycling rules, and takeaways are included. You must keep food waste, dry recyclables and non-recyclable waste apart.

Micro-firms with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees have until 31 March 2027. Many new takeaways fall into that group, but setting up separate bins from the start saves changing everything later.

You'll need a commercial waste collection for your food waste, recycling and general rubbish, from your council or a private collector. We only collect used cooking oil and food fats, so these need a separate collector.

As a business, you have a duty of care for your waste. That means storing it safely, only handing it to a registered waste carrier, and getting a waste transfer note for each load that leaves your premises.

Keep a paper or electronic copy of every waste transfer note for 2 years. A simple folder, or one email folder, makes this easy.

Check any collector on the Environment Agency's public register before you sign up. Ours is CBDU622700. We email your waste transfer note after every collection, so your oil paperwork stays up to date without you chasing it.

• Register with your council at least 28 days before you open.
• Check planning, and get a premises licence if you'll serve hot food after 11pm.
• Book a registered oil collector and get barrels in place.
• Set up separate bins for food waste, recycling and general waste.
• Book collections for your food waste and general rubbish.
• Start a folder for waste transfer notes and keep them for 2 years.
• Tell every member of staff: no oil or fat down the sink.